LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It may seem early, but October marks the start of the 2025 Water Year for the Colorado River System. That's because the snow season typically starts this time of year, and Rocky Mountain snow pack is ultimately what drives our local water supply.
For now, Lake Mead levels remain steady as we push into the next cycle.
"We’ve certainly seen Lake Mead’s water levels fluctuate," Bronson Mack, Southern Nevada Water Authority Spokesperson, told Channel 13.
"We expected that Lake Mead would continue to decline through this summer and as we come back into the snowfall season likely begin to tick back up again."
Right now, the reservoir sits at 33% capacity, about 1,064 feet. That's very similar to where we were this time last year — a difference of only 3 feet lower.
But it's a pretty big difference of 20 feet more than 2022 — that's the year we reached critically low levels.
Looking forward, the Southern Nevada Water Authority told Channel 13 that conservation remains top of mind for our stretched-thin water system.
Spokesperson Mack told us there's an inner-state collaborative effort on a long-term plan:
"The seven states that share the Colorado River are all working right now to develop new operating guidelines for the river system. The current guidelines that are in place have been in place since 2007 and they expire at the end of 2026 and these guidelines determine which states are going to take shortages depending on Lake Mead and Lake Powell water levels, how much water gets released down to Lake Mead, [etc.] So this has real implications for us here in southern Nevada."
Mack said those future plans may be released in the coming months with the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process. The public will have a chance to check out the plans once the Environmental Impact Statements are released.
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Winter Outlooks and Forecasts
Current outlooks for the winter months are looking warmer and drier here in Southern Nevada as we shift into a La Niña climate pattern.
"What we’ve actually found is that whether we get a La Niña or an El Niño event, the overall impact that we’ve seen on the Colorado River basin is one that is warmer and that is drier. And that’s what we’ve experienced so far over these past two decades and we shouldn’t expect that to change which means that all of us that use Colorado River water from Colorado all the way down to Mexico, everybody has some skin in the game and everyone needs to be contributing to conservation just like we’re doing here in Las Vegas," Mack said.
